The IAWG Report has resulted from the UN Secretariat’s dialogue with over 20 UN agencies and organizations about their efforts to enhance the implementation of sanctions. The report also represents an important contribution to the HLR-Compendium.

For more than two decades, the evolution of global threats to international peace and security has seen significant innovation in the design and application of UN sanctions. At the same time, the range of international organisations, instruments and initiatives dealing with many of these same threats has multiplied. It is therefore timely for the Security Council, the Secretariat and UN agencies, Member States and related international actors and bodies to consider the place of UN sanctions in the international community's response to threats to international peace and security. The governments of Australia, Finland, Germany, Greece, and Sweden, in partnership with the Watson Institute of Brown University and Compliance and Capacity International, are supporting a high level review of UN sanctions, to examine ways to enhance their effectiveness. The review will examine the way sanctions are integrated into the UN's collective security framework, the relationship between UN sanctions and external institutions and instruments related to peace and security, and emerging challenges. The Working Groups will develop practical, policy-oriented options to enhance sanctions implementation through a broad consultation with UN Member States, in particular the Members of the Security Council, with the UN secretariat and Security Council expert groups supporting the Council's sanctions function, and with relevant international organisations and experts.